University expects to break ground on Recreation Center in the spring

Plans for the University of Colorado's $63 million remodel of its student Recreation Center include a gender-neutral locker room, an outdoor leisure pool and a multi-story weight room.

New design details have emerged this week as the university moves forward with the remodel that will increase space by 30 percent in CU's heavily used Rec Center. Up to 5,000 students use the center every day, according to the university.

Students last spring approved a fee hike for the remodel that will cost them up to $125 per semester and is scheduled to go into effect in fall 2013. Now, full-time students pay $740 in fees a year, including the $340 they pay in student government fees.

Those advocating for the remodel said CU needed the improvements to address nearly $25 million in a maintenance backlog and add extra space in the overcrowded building.

A survey found that CU students participate in Rec Center activities at a rate 10 percent higher than students at comparable colleges, but the building is much smaller. The remodel will add 69,200 square feet to the existing 235,242 square-foot building.

Cheryl Kent, director of the Rec Center, said that surveyed CU students identified an outdoor pool as a top priority for the remodel. The outdoor aquatics area will have a pool deck, according to design plans.

CU's Rec Center now has a gender-neutral locker room, but the remodel will make it larger.

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"It's small and inadequate," she said. "We want to give folks more privacy."

Kent said the Rec Center improvements will increase student job opportunities by as much as 30 percent.

The cardio and weight space will also be doubled, and CU will add indoor turf to the building, according to design documents. Other plans include doubling the fitness studio space that host classes, martial arts and drop-in dancing. The university also has plans to build a state-of-the-art climbing gym with a bouldering area.

CU Freshman Eric Lee, a mechanical engineering student from Fort Morgan, said he doesn't mind paying extra in student fees to improve the Rec Center. Lee said that he works out every day Monday through Friday, and that during peak hours he has to stand around and wait to use machines.

"It could definitely use a bigger free weight room," he said.

Sean Beach, a freshman from Golden, said that he didn't notice too many problems with the Rec Center, though he mainly works out in a satellite gym in the Williams Village complex.

While he's not eager to pay the additional fee, he said he's looking forward to being able to lounge at the outdoor pool in warmer months.

The university plans to break ground on the project in late spring 2012 and have it finished by late fall 2013.

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